Dallas’ Hidden Art Gallery is Found in a Most Unexpected Spot

Paintings in a Parking Garage

Victory Park is making efforts to become a more authentic and walkable urban district.

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Local artist Lesli Marshall created five vibrant murals in the neighborhood.

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The murals are inspired by five adjectives: radiant, victorious, fierce, strong, and brave.

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The colorful murals have an unexpected location: a parking garage on Victory Park Lane.

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Leslie Marshall's colorful, geometric artworks will being some much-needed flavor to the district.

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The five murals are only a part of Victory Park's arty makeover.

Victory Park has a bright future ahead. The Downtown Dallas neighborhood just got a lot more colorful with the debut of five new murals by local artist Lesli Marshall. The vibrant additions are part of Victory Park’s redevelopment efforts to bring more energy and character to the urban district.

The eye-catching paintings depict geometric and imaginative portraits of wildlife – a phoenix sweeping over mountaintops, a pair of rainbow-hued fish swimming among diamonds, a surreal longhorn with two faces.

Marshall and her team members, Sarah Reyes and Daniel Driensky, drew inspiration for the striking murals from five adjectives: radiant, victorious, fierce, strong, and brave.

Impressively, the trio completed the project in only two weeks.

As radiant as they are, the location of these artworks may come as a surprise: You’ll find them tucked away in the parking garage on Victory Park Lane. The artist and her team were up for the challenge of transforming a boring, industrial space into a hidden art gallery.

“Usually you don’t see giant murals in parking garages, so I really wanted to make them bold and stand out. You turn the corner and it’s really unexpected,” says Marshall.

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Dispersed throughout every level of the five-story garage, the murals kill two bird with one stone. They bring public art to Victory Park, and act as a creative way-finding mechanism. It becomes a lot easier to remember where you parked with the murals.

“We could just paint numbers on each level like everywhere else does, but the new Victory Park isn’t like everywhere else,” Terry Montesi, CEO, Trademark Property Co., said in a statement. “Art is a powerful medium that can transform a space visually and impact how people experience a space emotionally. It’s one of the most important ways that we are adding texture, character, and soul to the district and fostering a vibe that is completely unique to Victory.”

Marshall’s murals are just one part of Victory Park’s makeover. This spring, the neighborhood unveiled its first piece of public art, a steel sculpture by California-based artist Nathan Mabry. More artwork will pop up in the coming months, including a large-scale sculpture by Las Vegas-based artist Tim Bavington.

The redevelopment will also bring a bevy of new businesses to the area. Seven new restaurants, Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, Orangetheory Fitness, and a new 285-unit apartment building will open their doors over the next year.